Metro-North Railroad today announced that crews from both the railroad and Connecticut Department of Transportation will be out in force making improvements to the Waterbury Branch this Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25.

Connecticut Department of Transportation crews will perform critical maintenance work to the high towers at the Devon Bridge that carry the power and signal cables over the Housatonic River. The upgrades include replacement of the guy wires that support the towers, repairs to the structural steel, and the installation of walkways and ladders that allow maintenance personnel access to the power and signal cables. Because of the track configuration across the bridge, this work requires the suspension of rail service on the Waterbury Branch over the weekend.

Metro-North crews will take advantage of the Waterbury Branch outage to renew the railroad crossing at the Great River Golf Course in Milford.

As a result of these infrastructure improvement projects, the Waterbury Branch will operate with substitute bus service this weekend. Normal branch-line service resumes with the 5:40 a.m. train from Waterbury on Monday.

Service details are below.

Saturday and Sunday: March 24, March 25

Bridgeport-bound: Buses will depart from the Waterbury station at: 7:06 a.m., 9:56 a.m., 1:06 p.m., 4:06 p.m., 7:06 p.m. and 10:06 p.m. Buses departing from all station stops from Naugatuck to Derby-Shelton will operate up to 20 minutes earlier than scheduled trains. At Bridgeport, customers will connect with regularly scheduled trains for continuing service to Grand Central Terminal.

Waterbury-bound: Buses will depart from the Bridgeport station and make all regularly scheduled stops to the Waterbury station. Buses are timed to meet scheduled trains, but the trip could take an additional 5-25 minutes, depending upon the destination.

Metro-North has many channels for all schedule information and service updates.

Email and text message service updates – Customers are urged to sign up to receive the alerts by visiting MyMTAAlerts.com. To avoid unwanted messages, a user can tailor the messages to the specific branch, and the specific times of day.

MTA.info – The rail tab of the “Service Status” box at the left side of www.MTA.info is always the definitive source for the latest status for each branch, updated every minute. In addition, customers can visit www.mta.info/mnr to see special service notices in the upper center of the page.

@MetroNorth on Twitter – Twitter users can follow @MetroNorth to receive updates of a similar nature to the email and text alerts, shortened to fit Twitter’s format.

Metro-North Train Time app – Customers who use the Metro-North Train Time app will see up-to-the-minute status for each upcoming train at each station. The app is available via the Apple Store for iOS devices or Google Play Store for Android along with MTA eTix - Metro-North Railroad’s mobile ticketing app which allows customers to buy Metro-North tickets on their mobile device -- anytime, anywhere. As a caution, trains that start out their trips on time may experience delays en route.

The above communications channels can be accessed while at home or on the go. For customers who are located at stations, Metro-North will post the latest service updates on digital signs at station platforms and will make audio announcements over public address systems, and on-board announcements made by train crews.

For those who prefer the telephone, information is available from the Metro-North’s Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: “Metro-North Railroad.” For customers calling from Connecticut, the number is: 877-690-5114. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can use their preferred service provider for the free 711 relay to reach Metro-North at 511.